Colorado’s second-highest court last week agreed that a Mesa County judge imposed an illegal sentence and also failed to adequately explain why he subjected a defendant to lifetime sex offender registration.

Mesa County District Court Judge Richard T. Gurley sentenced Joshua James Ellis to 15 years in prison plus five years of parole after Ellis pleaded guilty to first-degree assault and attempted sexual assault on a child. Gurley also designated Ellis a “sexually violent predator,” which generally leads to lifetime sex offender registration.

However, Ellis argued and the prosecution acknowledged on appeal that the law only authorized three years of parole. A three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals agreed with both parties and overturned Ellis’ sentence.

Ellis further disputed Gurley’s decision to label him a sexually violent predator, which involves, among other things, a defendant pursing a relationship with his victim primarily to abuse them sexually. The law requires judges to make specific factual findings when deciding whether to apply the designation.

“The type of conduct that indicates an offender promoted a relationship primarily for sexual victimization must demonstrate that the offender engaged in some conduct, beyond the sexual assault itself, which was designed to expand an existing relationship into one primarily for sexual victimization purposes,” wrote Judge John Daniel Daily in the panel’s Sept. 28 opinion.

Case: People v. Ellis

Decided: September 28, 2023

Jurisdiction: Mesa County

Ruling: 3-0

Judges: John Daniel Dailey (author)

Stephanie Dunn

Elizabeth L. Harris

Background: Douglas County judge subjected man to lifetime sex offender registration without saying why, appeals court finds

Ellis and the prosecution conceded it was unclear which specific act Ellis’ conviction was based on, as there were multiple incidents of alleged sexual assault. Gurley, in making his decision, relied on the allegation Ellis “was exposing himself to the victim” as grounds that Ellis promoted a relationship with the child.

But the appellate panel could not distinguish whether Ellis’ exposure was the crime itself or an additional data point illustrating his relationship with the victim. It returned the case to Mesa County for Gurley to redo his decision.

Last month, Colorado’s U.S. District Court announced that Gurley had been elevated to the federal bench as a part-time magistrate judge based in Grand Junction. He has not yet been sworn in.

The case is People v. Ellis.